Gymnastics coach faces additional child pornography charges

A Southern Oregon gymnastics teacher and sports photographer is back in jail, facing more child pornography charges.

A Southern Oregon gymnastics teacher and sports photographer is back in jail, facing more child pornography charges.

Jeffrey Scott Bettman, 54, was arrested this morning and is being held on $2 million bail. He was indicted by a Jackson County grand jury Tuesday afternoon on 10 counts of using a child in a display of sexually explicit conduct, authorities say.

The charges relate to 10 separate victims, and the images were created for display in the production of child pornography, said prosecutor Adam Peterson.

Bettman allegedly took videos of students while they were changing for private photo sessions at as many as three Southern Oregon gymnastics businesses over the past nine years, authorities said.

Bettman was first arrested in November and has been facing 10 counts each of first- and second-degree encouraging child sex abuse and invasion of privacy. He will be formally arraigned on the 10 new charges on Friday, court records show.

Bettman coached gymnastics at the Southern Oregon Gymnastics Academy and the shuttered Rogue Valley School of Gymnastics last decade, and was most recently at Ultimate Sports Gymnastics in Grants Pass. Bettman also was a sports photographer, according to detectives with the Southern Oregon High-Tech Crimes Task Force, which is investigating the case.

Bettman was one of several people targeted in an October sting operation after police discovered Bettman's Internet Protocol address had downloaded child pornography images.

Once investigators realized Bettman's connection to the gymnastics clubs, he became a primary focus of the task force investigation, officials said. A warrant to search Bettman's residence and seize his computer was signed by a judge Oct. 31, police said.

The search identified the presence of what appeared to be child pornography created by Bettman in the form of videos of gymnasts changing, taken without their consent or knowledge, investigators said. The videos were found in several locations at Bettman's residence in the 1800 block of Camp Baker Road just outside of Medford, police said.

Bettman was released from jail in November after a family member posted the required $25,000 on his $250,000 bail. Jackson County Circuit Judge Benjamin Bloom required him to stay away from minors, potential victims and the gymnastics facilities in Grants Pass and Medford, court records show.